“Why do Minotaurs always have to live in a maze?” Corbin complained loudly, as they all had to dodge the latest trap, likely because this one had put a hole in his cloak.

Dungeons could never be content simply throwing all manner of dangerous monsters at intrepid adventurers. They also had to employ the usage of deadly traps to better murder those who dared to enter them. So they could consume their Mana and bodies and steal their stuff. Liliana grabbed an arrow that was flying from the wall, poking at the tip until it broke skin.

Warning! You have been poisoned. -20 Health per second.

“They’re poisoned,” Liliana called out, tossing the arrow to the side with a disappointed frown. She’d expected better poison from this dungeon. Something she could take back with her and examine to mimic, but a measly twenty health a second wasn’t worth her time.

Alistair stared at her incredulously. “And your first reaction was to try it on yourself?” he asked, sounding more resigned than angry. It wasn’t the first time Liliana had tried something likely poisoned on herself for intellectual curiosity. It certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Liliana shrugged, sending her swords forward to slice through arrows. “It’s good training for my skill,” she said, unconcerned at the small Health drain. She could already feel the poison weakening in her body, her resistance fighting against it.

It would be gone in minutes, and [Poison Resistance] might level up. It always seemed to level faster when she used new poisons. And the teacher who oversaw the Alchemy club got worried when Liliana tried drinking poisons during the club. Or failed potions, which were often poisonous in their own right. Some people just didn’t understand the pursuit of knowledge. Or skill levels.

“Dungeons are not the best place for frivolous training,” Alistair groaned. Liliana paused, looking at him with an expression of disbelief. Alistair groaned a second time when he realized exactly what he’d said.

“Isn’t that the entire point of dungeons?” Diana called out, reinforcing Alistair’s blunder and forcing his foot deeper into his mouth.

“I thought the point of dungeons was for fun,” Anya interjected, though she didn’t look to be having much fun at the present moment. Likely because there was a tragic lack of anything for her to punch. Or to viciously beat with the body of a fallen comrade. Liliana really should ask if she had some sort of improvised weapon skill from doing that so often.

“They are for those with the strength to venture into them to test their mettle and prove their might.” Koth’talan corrected.

“Pretty sure dungeons exist for dungeon cores to consume Mana,” Liliana drawled. No one could tell her she was wrong, since that was why they existed.

Dungeons were just very elaborate angler fish, using a pretty lure to tempt prey into their waiting jaws. Well, if angler fish were also prone to destroying continents if not properly managed. Though, perhaps it could be compared to the way ecosystems worked, wherein if angler fish consumed all the prey in an area, they destroyed the ecosystem they were part of and left a dead zone. And now Liliana was spending far too much time considering angler fish and oceanic ecosystems and far too little time paying attention to the deadly dungeon she was traversing.

“Can we stop debating the philosophy of dungeons and just get through this maze?” Alistair entreated, forestalling any arguments. Which was likely a good idea, as arguments in their group were prone to ending with weapons drawn. Liliana enjoyed that part. It made the arguments all that much more fun.

Luckily, the poisoned arrow trap had exhausted its ammunition and they could proceed forward once again. Liliana glared balefully at the claustrophobic walls around them. They were too narrow for her to activate [Wings Of Radiance] and she couldn’t fly over the maze to figure out a path through it. The maze changed every time a new group entered, so maps for it were useless. And Anya had already determined that the walls were too reinforced for them to simply blast through. They connected to the ceiling as well, so there was no climbing over them either.

Liliana would wonder at the physics of it all fitting where it was if she wasn’t already of the opinion that most dungeons, especially higher ranked ones, existed in some sort of pocket dimension. There was no other explanation for how a maze could fit into what was supposed to be a castle based on the previous levels. Or how a castle existed inside a subterranean cave system which was where the dungeon actually was, below the Academy.

Alistair walked through the maze first, Emyr’s shadows passing in front of the tank and triggering any traps that awaited. On top of the poison arrows, they’d already come across acid coated wires that were nearly impossible to see and would slice through flesh and bone like paper. As well as several pitfall traps with all manner of fun surprises inside of them, Liliana was partial to the one that was full of stone snakes.

A stone on the floor before them clicked when Emyr’s shadows pressed on it some twenty minutes later. The entire group froze, ready to fight, run or drop to avoid whatever new twisted trap would appear. The walls five feet ahead of them vanished and out of them stepped six looming Minotaurs, their bovine eyes red with rage as they spotted the intruders.

They didn’t resemble the Minotaurs Liliana had read of in myths on Earth, a man with the head of a bull. They better resembled a bull transmuted into the rough shape of a man. If a man could reach eight feet in height, and had arms thick as oak trees and three-fingered hands. Their legs were all bull, ending in hooves and their skin was that of a bovine. Deadly horns protruded from their heads, ready to gore any who got within range.

Minotaurs made Alistair look small in comparison.

Minotaur

Level: 243

A chimeric creature with the features of both man and bull, but with none of the reason of a man and without the less aggressive nature of a common bull. Minotaurs commonly move alone or in small herds, and they react with ready violence to any perceived threats. Minotaurs are known to hunt down humans, preferring to challenge those of the greatest strength they can find and then feast upon their body afterwards, believing that by doing so, they can take the strength of their slain foes and make it their own.

Rank: 4

Health: 32,400

Energy: 15,000

Highest Affinity: Earth 86%

Highest Stat: Vitality: 3,240

The Minotaur Liliana had chosen to [Identify] had an Earth affinity, but she could see two that had crystals growing from their bodies, denoting them as having a Crystal affinity. None seemed to have the trademark red coat of a Fire affinity, or Lava. Which would be a small blessing in this close quarters battlefield they’d found themselves in, even with the added space from the walls vanishing.

“Get ready!” Alistair called out as he activated his skills, drawing the aggro of the Minotaurs as the rest of them stayed behind him.

Liliana activated her own Set Up combo, feeling herself fill with power that hummed in the air around her. The Minotaurs charged as one, and where the Red Caps and Bauks had taken time to break through the first of Alistair’s barriers, the Minotaurs shattered it in that initial charge, their bellows a chilling accompaniment to the sound of shattering glass that marked the loss of the shield.

Liliana rushed forward, jumping onto Alistair’s shoulder for a second before she activated [Leap] and flew over the heads of the Minotaurs. She had to flip herself in the air to avoid bashing her head into the stone ceiling, her feet and legs taking the impact. Liliana shot off the ceiling, activating [Attraction] on a crystalline Minotaur towards the back and shooting towards him, a glowing contingent of swords flowing after her like falling stars.

Her naginata cut a shallow stripe down the Minotaur’s back, bouncing off a crystal protruding from its spine and forcing her to yank it back. Her swords fared hardly better, three of them deflected by the crystals on the Minotaur’s body, the rest only applying surface level damages.

“They have some kind of reinforcement skill!” Liliana shouted out, her voice carrying over the sounds of battle, the Minotaur’s bellowing and Corbin’s music.

“Corbin, can you counteract that?” Alistair yelled out. The music paused before a new melody drifted over them all. It was slow, ponderous and creeping.

The crystal Minotaur turned towards Liliana as her swords scored another cut on its back, the annoyance enough to break Alistair’s attention demanding abilities. Liliana activated [Repel] on the Minotaur as it swung a crude crystal hammer at her, hard enough that when it hit the stones instead of her body, some cracked under the force. Liliana danced back with a grim smile as her swords flew around the monster, leaving thin red lines across its body that only seemed to further enrage it.

“Shame I don’t have a red cape for you,” Liliana taunted as the beast pawed at the ground before letting out a bone shaking bellow and charged at her.

Liliana activated [Leap] once more, clearing the Minotaur easily enough as it passed underneath her and collided with a wall. Liliana’s feet hit the ceiling once more, and she sent her swords diving for the beast, activating [Pierce] and [Radiant Edge] on her weapons as they plunged towards the Minotaur, her body hurdling a heartbeat after them.

Two swords managed to embed themselves into the Minotaur, a few inches deep, four others cut deeper gashes than she’d managed before, while the last two clanged ineffectively against crystals. Liliana pulled her swords back to her as the Minotaur roared, swinging its hammer at her. [Blink] saw her out of range of the hit, a second activation of the teleportation skill had her appearing under its guard, her naginata striking true.

Liliana swiftly fell into the familiar give and take of battle, dancing around the much larger Minotaur, her swords cutting progressively deeper wounds into its body as Corbin’s insidious song leeched the protections away from its skin. Each drop of blood lost only seemed to make the Minotaur more incensed and volatile, its swings speeding and the power behind them growing. Cracked stones turned footing treacherous and thunder like booms filled Liliana’s ears as she kept herself moving.

When the Minotaur fell, it was from no singular wound, its body so covered in weeping cuts it was impossible to distinguish the original color of its pelt. It took a single step forward before falling, its body so heavy that when it hit the ground, Liliana would swear the ground shook. Death by a thousand cuts.

Liliana turned towards the rest of the battle, to find two other Minotaurs had been dispatched already, three still remaining. Two were focused on Alistair while Diana and Emyr pelted them with spellfire. Anya and Koth’talan were facing the last Minotaur, Anya trading punches with the beast even as one of her arms hung limply beside her, dislocated. Koth’talan was slicing into the beast while Anya kept its attention, taking on Liliana’s strategy of death by a thousand cuts.

Liliana took off towards one of the two Minotaurs on Alistair. Her blades lit up with [Radiant Edge], [Radiant Ignition], and [Pierce] and she drove them forward. They cut into burned flesh, blood pouring over blacked skin. Liliana’s naginata spun through the air as she sliced it across the back of the Minotaur’s knees. Pulling it back, she struck again and again. The Minotaur’s attention was focused wholly on Alistair, and the mages behind him, leaving Liliana open to attack it without fear of retaliation. Liliana darted in and out, avoiding spellfire from her friends as her blades flashed and cut and sheared.

With so many attacking the same beasts at the same time, they fell far faster than the one Liliana had drawn away to fight on her own. No matter how large these Minotaurs were, there was only so much they could handle. They fell, bodies slamming into the ground like toppling monuments and almost sending Liliana to her knees when the two Minotaurs fell at the same time.

Liliana turned her attention to the Minotaur Anya and Koth’talan were still fighting only to see it fall mere moments after the last of its brethren, Anya standing on its chest proudly, her limp arm hanging beside her. At this point, Liliana was of the opinion that the wolf girl actively sought out an injury in every fight, some sort of twisted badge of honor. At least Marianne wasn’t here to scream at her about it.

“Minotaurs are unnecessarily annoying,” Liliana said, disdain coating her voice as she canceled her spells and skills, leaving only [Threads of Control] active to keep her swords ready.

“I like them. They’re fun to fight.” Anya said. Koth’talan walked over to her and helped her pop her shoulder back into the socket. Anya didn’t even wince. Damn masochist.

“You just don’t like things you can’t kill quickly,” Alistair teased Liliana as they set to collecting the cores and horns of the Minotaurs, the only useful parts of the beasts.

Strangely enough, man-eaters didn’t have much that could be used for making gear or potions. Or perhaps there were simply none who wanted to consume potions made from beasts that predated on humans. And similarly few who wanted to wear clothes or wield weapons coming from such dark origins. Liliana would rather wear her nightgown to battle than armor made from Red Caps, so she could find no fault with the thought process.

“And? The longer something lives, the more chances it has to kill me,” Liliana huffed as she sawed at a horn.

“It’s good training,” Alistair mimicked her voice horribly, pitching it far too high and squeaky to ever have come from her mouth. Combined with his natural baritone, made it an awful combination that no one deserved to be subjected to hearing.

Liliana threw the horn in her hand with lethal accuracy, hitting her brother square in the center of his forehead. “If you’re going to mock me, do it well or not at all.”

“I thought my impression was incredibly accurate,” Alistair huffed, picking up the horn and rubbing at his smarting head.

“Incredibly accurate,” Emyr said, voice deadpan enough it was impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic. Alistair beamed at his boyfriend at the dubious support as the rest of them finished up.

Liliana looked over to Corbin, surprised to find him not covered in some questionable substance. The only casualty of his wardrobe since they’d gotten to this level was the hole in his cloak from a poisoned arrow. He met her eyes and shrugged, raising a finger to his lips as he winked. Liliana rolled her eyes and shook her head. Well, if he was done being the group’s designated target practice, that was his prerogative.

As the group fell back into their ranks, Emyr grabbed her wrist and tugged her to the back. Koth’talan gave them both a look but took her spot in the front without complaint. It was nothing odd for Liliana and Emyr to wander off, even in dungeons, to whisper together after all. Emyr let the group get a few feet ahead of them before he pressed close to her as they walked, so she could hear his barely breathed words.

“Lili, if you can’t handle this dungeon, you’re going to make everyone worried,” He hissed at her. Liliana grimaced, hand tapping against the dagger on her hip.

“It’s difficult, when,” Liliana frowned and then reached out mentally, “when I know someone here could be a traitor.” She finished. Emyr sighed, slipping his grip from her wrist to her hand and squeezing.

“I said it was likely it was a personal angle, as the only time you’ve had,” Emyr looked around, eyes narrowing, “these ‘feelings’ were when you were under the direct influence of something close to you.”

“Personal, which means someone close to me. A friend. And you’re investigating them. How can I just be okay, when there’s a possibility one of them is at best trying to manipulate me, at worst trying to kill me?” Liliana asked, her mental voice reaching a pitch she wouldn’t be able to do aloud and avoid notice.

Emyr winced, giving her a reprimanding glare for shouting in his head. Liliana winced sheepishly back at him. Emyr didn’t deserve a migraine because she wasn’t handling her stress. And the rest of their team didn’t deserve an Emyr pissed off because Liliana had given him a migraine. They wanted to get out of this dungeon with minimal injuries, and a pissed off Emyr meant he wouldn’t care so much about collateral damage with his spells. Marianne would never let them go into a dungeon alone again if they all came back with third-degree burns from one of Emyr’s spells.

“I said be wary, and yes, I said personal. But it doesn’t mean it’s one of them. It could be someone else too, a teacher or fuck, even the Headmistress. We don’t know,” Emyr whispered back, voice hardly a breath to keep it from carrying. Liliana bit her lip, looking over at their friends, who were talking and joking ahead of them.

Could one of them really betray her? It didn’t seem possible, watching them smiling and laughing. She knew she’d see the rainbow of bonds between their souls if she activated [Soul Sight]. How could any of that be faked?

“You’re saying it might not be one of them?” Liliana asked, hopeful. She didn’t want one of her friends to be a traitor. She wanted it so badly she was willing to accept any other possibility to bury that fear and paranoia.

“I’m saying it could be anyone, but someone close to you is most likely. But Lili, even if it is, it’s not all of them. Be wary, but stop acting so suspicious. I know our friends are idiots, but eventually they’ll catch on.” Emyr finished, squeezing her hand tightly before releasing her and flicking a finger against her nose in clear reprimand.

“That move with the Minotaur earlier, you would’ve never done that normally. But you didn’t trust the rest of us enough to stay with the group in a close quarters fight. That was a first year mistake. It was sloppy. It was suspicious, Lili.” Emyr warned her, finally revealing why he’d chosen now to confront her, rather than waiting until after the dungeon.

Liliana looked away, knowing he was right. She’d drawn that Minotaur away to fight because she didn’t trust the rest of them to watch her back in a fight where her biggest strength, her ability to move quickly, was crippled. She’d done it so naturally, retreating from a place where she didn’t feel safe to a place where she felt more in control. Reverting to habits of fighting alone.

Behavior like that in a dungeon wasn’t simply foolish, it was openly courting death. Not just for herself, but for her entire team.

Which was not full of traitors no matter how her paranoia whispered in her mind, ingrained thought processes born of a desperate need that no longer existed, but her mind would never fully be able to understand that the danger was long gone. It wasn’t paranoia if people really were out to get you, and for so long in her younger years, that had been true. When she’d been surrounded by people who would see her gladly dead, or at least stand aside while she died. Those times were gone, but the scars they’d left were not.

She could heal from her traumas, but she couldn’t change the person they’d formed her into. Not entirely. Some things were simply too deeply entangled in who she was now.

The possibility that one of her friends was an enemy had reawakened old habits, feeding the paranoia Liliana had always kept on a tight leash. And she couldn’t let it rule her as it once had, for it would do nothing but endanger her here.

“Alright, you’re right.” Liliana said finally with a tired smile.

“I’m always right, Lili.” Emyr said pompously, but his smile was teasing.

Liliana shoved him, feeling herself relax. Emyr had said himself, there was a chance none of their friends were behind the warnings she’d been given. It could be a professor, or the Headmistress. Who did seem suspicious in retrospect, as a majority of the assignments that had gone wrong had to do with creatures. Creatures that could easily be cowed by another of their kind, a Rank 1. Beasts held little love for humans, and wouldn’t fight too much against a Rank 1 beast asking them to attack or kill humans. And then there was the matter of her taking a special interest in Liliana.

As they retook their places in the group, Liliana’s mind turned towards how she could find proof that the Headmistress was or was not what she was being warned about. Emyr wouldn’t be able to, as he had no interactions with the woman. But Liliana did.